REMARKS
Council Member Sandy Nurse's opening remarks on sexual assault in city jails
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4 min
Council Member Sandy Nurse opens the oversight hearing on preventing and addressing sexual assault and harassment in city jails. She highlights the persistent issue of sexual abuse at Rikers Island, discusses the impact of the Adult Survivors Act, and introduces legislation aimed at improving investigations of sexual crimes in correctional facilities.
- Emphasizes the need for action beyond DOC's claimed "zero tolerance policy"
- Mentions that nearly 60% of Adult Survivors Act claims in NYC were filed against the city and DOC
- Introduces Intro 830, which requires DOC to develop a comprehensive training program for sexual crime investigations
Sandy Nurse
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I'm council member standing nurse, chair of the committee's the council's committee on criminal justice.
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I'd like to welcome you today's oversight hearing on preventing and addressing sexual assault and harassment in city jails, where we will also consider intro 8:30 sponsored by council member Lewis.
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Upfront, I'd like to note that throughout today's hearing, we will be discussing sexual violence.
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This topic is disturbing and may be difficult for some people, so please take care of yourself.
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I wanna recognize my colleagues who are here, council member Marte.
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Thank you for being here.
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Sadly, this is not the first time this committee has focused on the issue of sexual abuse at Rikers Island.
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The inability to keep staff members, visitors, and people in custody safe were impeditory behavior is a perpetual problem for the Department of Correction.
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In 2018, when the council held a hearing on this exact top topic, the department testified about efforts underway to bring itself into compliance with the Prison rape Elimination Act by training staff, revamping its investigation process, and screening people in custody for risk of sexual victimization.
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Here we are, 6 years later, to demand action yet again because the Department of Correction must do more than simply claim they have a 0 tolerance policy for sexual abuse and sexual harassment.
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These words must mean something.
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Sexual assault and harassment is a horrific, pervasive issue with dire consequences, and jails present a unique context for sexual abuse to occur.
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The insular environment restrictions on incarcerated individuals' movement, and the inherent power structures in jails contribute to increased opportunities for sexual violence.
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In the community, sexual assault are severely underreported compared to other crimes.
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This sad reality is even worse in correctional institutions, where staff and other incarcerated people can target and further abuse people who report incidents.
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Even with this underreporting, people in custody filed 1440 grievances to the Department of Correction related to sexual abuse and harassment last year.
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The department of correction has robust policies in place to prevent and address sexual abuse and harassment against people in custody.
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However, there appears to be a division between the department's written policies and the reality for those in its care.
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Thanks to individuals who came forward after the New York State passed the Adults SURVIVORS Act, we now have a better understanding of how pervasive this issue is at Rikers Island.
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According to reporting by Jesse Edwards and Samantha Max, a gothamist, of the more than 1200 cases filed under the ASA in New York City's Supreme States Supreme Courts.
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Nearly 60% of claims were filed against the city of New York and the Department of Correction.
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While many of these claims date back decades, Gothamist investigation found 40 lawsuits contain allegations of sexual abuse at Rikers Island that occurred since 2018.
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The year we held our previous oversight hearing where DOC vowed that they were undertaking extensive reform efforts.
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Today, I hope the department will not deflect responsibility and will acknowledge that more needs to be done to end sexual abuse at Rikers Island.
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We owe it not only to the people in custody, but also to the staff at Rikers Island who are victimized and traumatized and deserve a workplace where they feel safe.
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To further our goals today, we are also considering legislation introduced by council member Lewis to require DOC to develop a comprehensive training program for investigations of sexual crimes.
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The Effective investigations are the foundations of accountability.
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I'm a a proud co sponsor of this important legislation requiring DOC to implement a victim centered sexual crimes investigation training program And perhaps, council member Lewis will join to share more about her bill.
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But today, we're gonna hear I'm sorry.
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We're also hearing intro 792 from council member Rivera who will be hearing in a little bit and can speak on her bill.
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Today, we're gonna hear we're gonna start out our our hearing with a panel of witnesses.
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Some individuals who have asked to to speak and come forward and share their stories.
